There has been a lot of outcry recently as Facebook decided to start removing the profiles of drag queens. The problem as Facebook sees it, is that these individuals are using stage names and not their real names. Using your real name is a requirement in order to have an account on the site.
Facebook has the following rules in place for what qualifies as a real name on Facebook:
- Symbols, numbers, unusual capitalization, repeating characters or punctuation
- Characters from multiple languages
- Titles of any kind (ex: professional, religious)
- Words, phrases or nicknames in place of a middle name
- Offensive or suggestive words of any kind
- Pretending to be anything or anyone isn't allowed
- You can also list another name on your account (ex: maiden name, nickname or professional name) by adding an alternate name to your profile
Seeing these rules, I was curious as to how they detect whether a name violates these rules since hundred of thousands of accounts are made each day (Facebook claims 5 people sign up every second). How could they possibly detect all fake names? It turns out they rely on two primary methods. The first, is a complex algorithm. The algorithm takes into account a variety of different factors including region, gender, age, number of repeating letters, among many others. The other way they detect fake name accounts is by user reports. If you get flagged by other users for not using your real name, you will be investigated by someone at Facebook to see if the complaints are valid. After you have your account suspended, you are required to provide a scanned image of a government-issued ID in order to get your account reactivated.
The article I read from Quartz was specifically about the recent drag queen outrage. A prominent San Francisco LGBT activist and drag queen, who goes by the name “Sister Roma”, was forced to lose her account or change to her legal name “Michael Williams”. Social media became immediately outraged and a petition to Facebook has already gained over 18,000 signatures. This has prompted Facebook to meet with LGBT community leaders but no solution has come out of these meetings so far.
The article also mentioned how the real name policy does not just affect the LGBT community. People with religious titles in their names are also being asked to take them down. It has also been a trend recently for high school or college aged kids to modify their names when applying for schools or jobs. Using this tactic, the kids hope to hide their personal profiles from prospective employers since there might be some unsavory content visible. A recent report stated that 70% of hiring managers had rejected candidates due to their social media profiles.
Some people are petitioning Facebook to get the real name policy removed. Their argument is that it is a safety issue. Some people use stage names in order to protect their privacy, as many people may not approve of what they do professionally. But so far, it does not look like Facebook is willing to budge on this issue.
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